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It doesn't seem to be picking up even a small fraction of the share of the success of nearby Silicon Valley
This is baseless because Sacramento is at least 120 miles away from San Jose/Silicon Valley (so not very close to the technology hub of SV at all) and has its own employment base based on Government, Agriculture, and Post-Secondary Education...it holds its own for what it does and doesn't really seem to be struggling, relatively speaking. There have also been some efforts to bring tech to the area, and it seems as if Sac is emerging as a clean technology hub as well, which is somewhat of a result of its proximity to SV: The hardest job in tech? Convincing start-ups to move to Sacramento
The brainpower and talent in the tech industry is concentrated in SV and it isn't exactly economically feasible to spread all the way to Sacramento since it's far enough away from that base for it to be a different market, and it isn't pulling from the same pool of talent. That's like saying that Beaumont isn't picking up a share of Houston's success because it's "nearby," when it's far enough away to have its own economy and employment base. Or San Diego-Los Angeles, which are about as far away from each other as Sacramento is from the Silicon Valley.
I think most of the cities in the Mississippi river basin have underachieved, this region is America's heartland with a naturally built in transportation network, yet All the major cities seem to be on the periphery of the basin and not actually in it.
Pittsburgh, Columbus, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, Des Moines, New Orleans etc.
The only cities in this basin that seem to be doing well are Minneapolis and Denver.
How so? How big or influential could it have been?
Compare Memphis to other southern cities such as Nashville, Charlotte, and Atlanta over the last 20 years. Aside from FedEx, how has Memphis kept up with the others?
What cities could have been much larger or influential but never lived up to their potential?
Consider development paths, geography, immigration, technology, etc.
Quote:
Originally Posted by citidata18
Without that context, the use of the term "underachieving" implies achievement only in the present (not the past or future).
I am not sure where the disconnect is, but Detroit is not an underachieving city. Detroit peaked and collapsed, that is not the same thing as underachieving. If Detroit underachieved, it would look more like Cleveland today.
Last edited by Toxic Toast; 08-06-2018 at 11:19 AM..
I am not sure where the disconnect is, but Detroit is not an underachieving city. Detroit peaked and collapsed, that is not the same thing as underachieving. If Detroit underachieved, it would look more like Cleveland today.
Agreed, I had to review the OP before I committed to agreeing though lol. I would say Detroit is a city that is currently under achieving. The thread is more about cities that "never were", or "could have been" if you will. Detroit is a city that "was".
Agreed, I had to review the OP before I committed to agreeing though lol. I would say Detroit is a city that is currently under achieving. The thread is more about cities that "never were", or "could have been" if you will. Detroit is a city that "was".
New Orleans probably would be the size of New York had the British taken Louisiana instead of giving it to the Spanish after the 7 years war, because its likely that New Orleans would have been the center of a settled interior instead of the Erie Canal stealing its thunder.
No. Malaria would have limited the growth potential of New Orleans well into the 20th century. The lowland south was just a terrible place for anyone of European descent to live year round - particularly new immigrants. New Orleans could have gotten bigger, but it never would have been a major U.S. metropolitan area.
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